That Lass Over There
Constant Panic
As Xeria spoke, Kuroi moved from rubbing her back to brushing through her disheveled hair with her hands, slowly cleaning up the mess of knots that had returned after just one terrible day with care. Her hands froze, however, on Xeria's last words, a shake running through Kuroi's body and her brushing only resuming a few moments later. "Xeria." Kuroi took a few breaths before saying anything, making sure nothing ill-thought passed through her mouth. She brushed away strands of hair covering Xeria's ear, leaning close over the witch's head that had found its way to her lap."But you got upset at me when I tried to help... You were mad at me..." Xeria still couldn't forget that blank look on Kuroi's face, the aura of menace that rose up when Xeria realised her clever plan turned out to be neither clever or a plan. The picture was beginning to become a lot clearer, and the truth of mistaken intent and misinterpreted actions had taken ahold. But that still didn't explain Xeria's extreme reaction that whole night and this morning.
"You were going to hurt me... if I wasn't being a good girl..."
For all the thinking she wanted to say she was doing, the words were already etched into her mind from the very beginning. "I would die before I hurt you." She spoke the words quietly, feeling disappointed that she had already failed to live up to them in a literal fashion. "From the moment we first saw each other, I made that commitment. I sleep against the wall as punishment for almost hurting you, once. I will not allow the same mistake again." Kuroi's fingers played with a short strand of hair near Xeria's neck as she spoke. "Nothing will change that. I do not make promises lightly."
"... Do you understand?"